


What Matters

by tariana



Category: The Lord of the Rings RPF
Genre: Autumn, Dogs, Domestic Fluff, M/M, Past Infidelity, Post-Divorce
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-04
Updated: 2018-08-04
Packaged: 2019-06-21 20:21:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,196
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15565674
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tariana/pseuds/tariana
Summary: Sean and Elijah are together. Just a bit of domestic fluff I wrote for a friend.





	What Matters

Sean stirred, blinking and stretching lazily. The late autumn afternoon's sunshine filtered through the wooden blinds on the window, giving the room a hazy golden glow and illuminating the dust motes spinning in the air. Living on a gravel road in the Midwest had its advantages, but the dust wasn't one of them.

Still, the couch was comfortable, and the crocheted afghan Elijah must have tossed over him as he slept was warmer than it looked. It sounded entirely too good to just lie here and relax, but if he didn't stop napping in the middle of the day, he'd never sleep at night. Not that there's that much sleeping going on lately, anyway, his mind supplied helpfully, and Sean grinned, remembering the reason for that lack of sleep.

Elijah. Really here, really with him. Sean sometimes still found himself not believing it. After all the years, after all the things they had been through, to finally have this normal life – it was unbelievable. It was wonderful.

Things weren't perfect, true – Sean and Christine were still having to work hard to remain civil, to remain friends. Sean was confident that it would work out eventually, once the hurt had healed some, but right now, less than a year after the divorce, things were strained. In no way could Sean blame Christine for being angry – he had been wrong. Not wrong to fall in love with Elijah, but wrong to try to keep it from her – from the rest of the world – for so long. 

When Sean went to New Zealand, he'd never imagined his life would change so much, so fast. But almost from the first time his eyes met Elijah's, he was lost. It had taken him quite a bit more time to admit that, even to himself. Sean did love Christine, and he'd honestly thought they could make it work – that if he spent less time with Elijah his feelings would change. So he'd gone home from New Zealand convinced his marriage was fine, and that if he could just spend some time away from Elijah, work harder on his marriage, that things would be okay. Actually living that life was somewhat harder than falling in love had been. Every time he saw Elijah, at an event, on television, wherever, it was like a sucker-punch to the gut, and it had gradually worn down his defenses. When Sean had finally worked up the courage to confront Elijah with his feelings, it had become obvious that Elijah's feelings were still the same. It had taken nearly ten years of seeing each other on and off to make Sean realize that Elijah really was what he wanted, for good, forever.

The decision to make the divorce between him and Christine – and the real reason behind it – public had been one of the hardest things Sean had ever done, but he knew that everyone deserved to know the truth. Sean's biggest surprise had been Christine's lack of surprise. She had simply given him a withering, “did you really think I didn't know?” look that made him feel about two inches tall, and gone to call an attorney. Sean hadn't argued about the property settlement at all, insisting that Christine get whatever she thought she needed to take care of the girls. In return, she had been generous with Sean's custody arrangements, which meant that the girls lived with him nearly half the time.

It had been terrible, breaking the news to his mother, his father, the girls... but he couldn't regret the actions that had led him to this place, though, in the past as they were. He could only live the best life he could, starting right now. For Sean, that best life included Elijah, who had first been his friend, then his lover, and now, his partner in everything.

Speaking of Elijah, where is he? Sean thought.

He sat up, pushing the afghan off him, then stood and walked to the kitchen for a glass of water. Through the sliding glass doors, he could see the backyard, where the trees had turned shades of yellow, gold, orange, and red, and the ground was covered with a thick carpet of crunchy, brown, fallen leaves.

Suddenly, a small, brown shape streaked through the yard, leaving a trail of blown leaves in its wake, and Sean laughed and after slipping on a sweater from the hook by the door, stepped outside into the chilly afternoon. As he watched, the dog (for that was what the small brown shape was) ran the other way, plowing into Elijah, who was making a half-hearted attempt at raking leaves. He'd probably be making a lot more progress, Sean thought, if he'd shut Annie in the house, but since the dog had come home from the animal shelter with them about six months ago, Elijah and Annie had been nearly inseparable. Sean had resigned himself to dog hair everywhere, to a sharp yipping bark waking him up at night, to being nearly bowled over with Annie's affection when he came home, to long walks with Elijah and Annie, and seeing Elijah's smile in response to Annie's crazy antics.

Yeah, he could live with that.

He walked down the steps and over to where Elijah stood in the midst of a pile of leaves. Actually, as Sean got closer, it seemed that part of the pile of leaves had attached itself to Elijah. There were leaves in Elijah's hair, and clinging to his sweater and the wool cap he wore. Sean didn't know if he'd ever seen anything so beautiful as Elijah, standing in the fading sunlight, smiling, cheeks flushed with chill and exertion, with leaves in his hair and their dog racing in circles around them.

“Not making much progress,” Elijah said ruefully. “Think I'm going to give up and just let them be.” He motioned around the yard, indicating the blanket of leaves. “Annie likes them, anyway.”

And what Annie wants, Annie gets, thought Sean with a smile.

Elijah turned and started to walk toward the house. Sean watched him go for a moment, then caught Elijah's arm, turning him around.

“Sean, what -- ?” was Elijah's reaction to being hauled bodily into a hug, but he didn't get a chance to get any more words out, because Sean was kissing him soundly. Things very nearly got out of control right there in the yard, but suddenly Sean heard the rumble of Elijah's stomach.

Elijah laughed, blushing. Sean laughed too, and said, “Let's go inside. It's too cold to stay outside much longer anyway.”

They walked inside, with Annie at their heels, and while Elijah fed Annie and got her fresh water, Sean started on supper. It was this quiet domesticity Sean liked the most, if he was honest with himself. Sure, the romantic gestures had their place, but at the end of the day, what really mattered was having someone to spend your life with, to share your life with. 

“I love you, Elijah,” Sean said.

Elijah's smile and his answering, “I love you, too, Sean,” made every minute of the last ten years worthwhile.

Yes, Sean thought. That is what really matters.


End file.
